A night out. An exclusive club. A complete stranger.Some worlds are meant to remain secret, but for Alexandria Shaw, a night out with her best friend will capture more than her curiosity. When she enters an exclusive club where the patrons explore more than casual relationships, she meets the man of her dreams. Landon Miller, owner of the club, is a confident, mysterious, downright gorgeous man … owner of the club, is a confident, mysterious, downright gorgeous man who thrives on control. However, underneath his designer suit lies a world of deceit and obsession.
Buckle up and go for the ride of your life in this fast-paced, suspense filled, adrenaline rush of a novel. Dare you to put it down!
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A Startling Self-Discovery
How well do we know ourselves? That is the question I am still pondering, having walked more than a mile in Alexandria (Lexi) Shaw’s shoes after a night on the town with her girlfriend, touring an exclusive club catering to an elite clientele whose sexual forays embrace the subculture of BDSM.
Oh, Alexandria already knew she paid the price for previous choices she’d made in her life—one of them, maintaining her comfortably numb, subservient role of dutiful wife to a husband she wasn’t head-over-heels in love with.
Then, meeting club owner, Landon Miller awakened feelings inside Lexi she never knew existed, leading her astray from her well-worn path of predictability.
Hooked right from the beginning, I attribute this to the author’s narrative from Lexi’s point of view which “leashes” the reader’s attention for keeping pace along a story that leaves you reeling in disbelief.
While the author affords us a voyeuristic glimpse into an alternate lifestyle embraced by consenting adults, she does not make judgement calls or cast aspersions on the characters who engage in it. And, neither did I, because given the right catalyst, there’s no telling how anyone will react at a vulnerable moment by veering off course. Lexi does enough mind wrestling of her own over losing control to a man she can’t get out of her head. I can’t either, longing to meet him again in the next book of this series.
I highly recommend ‘Control’ for delving into uncharted territory, while focusing on the inner conflicts and psychological effects of following one’s heart to a dark place where nothing is as it seems, though can’t will yourself to leave.
Thrilling and extremely sexy
The reader enters a world of BDSM and definitely filled with control, more like the controlling of others, but some want that sort of thing. This story is thrilling and sexy, and filled with desire, not just from the pleasures, but also looking for a killer. It’s a well written story, and deserves the attention it’s getting. Lexi enters a world she’s not familiar with, but it helps bring her to life. The characters had this great chemistry and the reader was left looking for the deception and murder in between them. It’s a great story. Look forward to reading the next one in the series. This one does leave the reader hanging…
Control #1 – Not into BDSM, which doesn’t get too graphic continuously, just in one scene. Didn’t care for Lexi, a weak woman making bad decisions. I didn’t trust Landon, a damaged character with more going on than the story lets surface. The story did get interesting, filled with suspense. By the way it ends, I’m assuming there’s more to come. Disregarding the subject matter, Control was actually hard to put down once started, even though the first few chapters were slow going. I contacted the author to review her books, not knowing what the book was about.
Bound #2 – A suspenseful, action-packed, humorous continuation of Control. The beginning is slow, but the pace picks up quickly and keeps it up. Lexi redeems herself, and along with Landon, is full of surprises. Leroy is a great supporting character. If you like stories about the Mafia, read this. For those who care, there’s infrequent cursing and no sex. Hopefully, we’ll see more of Leroy and Landon; I get the impression there’s more to their story.
Freedom #3 – Another suspenseful, intriguing continuation of Control and Bound, which must be read before reading this book. Well written, suspense filled and intriguing and told by Landon, we find out the rest of the story. Ms. Gauthier has done wonderful job with her descriptions, planning and combining bits of Control and Bound as needed; as well as the gamut of emotions experienced. A very addicting, substantial series that must be read. I contacted the author to review her books and luckily it was Landon’s story.
Longing – Glad to get background on Leroy, I found him an interesting character in Control and Bound. The author tells interesting, suspenseful, action-packed stories, but does have a problem with grammar, word usage and punctuation. For those who care, she doesn’t use vulgar language, and other than one sex scene in Control, there’s no sex. There’s improvement between Longing and Bound, and I hope to see Leroy and Landon in future books. I was put on a mailing list and received this short story.
I couldn’t put this book down. Right from the start, the characters were interesting, and I could relate easily to Lexi as she explored her thoughts and feelings. Before long, I felt like I knew her and was travelling alongside her in her adventures. I grew protective and defensive of her as the story progressed, and felt anger at those who hurt or disappointed her.
Comparisons with ’50 Shades’ are probably unavoidable, except that Gauthier’s ‘Control’ is better written and the characters are more realistic. There is much less graphic sex, but the tension and desire are palpable, which I actually find a lot more interesting. As an avid reader, I am thankful that there is a lot more thoughtful character development and a far more believable plot. The characters are less wooden and far less shallow and selfish than Ana and Christian, who both frustrated me and angered me at different times.
There are some occasional typos, but they are easy to overlook as the story keeps moving at a really good pace, with some surprises and twists to keep the reader hooked.
There are some sophisticated and complex ideas and themes explored in this book that really challenge the reader’s own perceptions and assumptions. While some of the elements of the book are things that many people might not ever undertake or express an interest in, the point is that we can all benefit from remembering that there is always more to someone’s story than what they are willing or able to tell us.
I really enjoyed this book. It’s only for an adult audience, and I’d suggest that those adults be open-minded and not too conservative in their outlook on life. If you fit into that demographic, then you’ll enjoy this book. If you thought ’50 Shades’ was good, this is better.